Chrono Trigger: Tempus Fugitive
by t-smitts
Summary: It's been a while, but I've returned. In this chapter, one of the alliances begins to crack and our heroes greatest enemy reveals a shcoking secret... Come on! Let's get some more reviews going!
1. Prologue

Chrono Trigger: Tempus Fugitive  
  
Prologue  
  
  
  
Leene Square: 2000 AD  
It was like nothing Marle had ever seen before. The laser shows, and the holographic and robotic performers she saw around her were inconceivable in her own time. Having lived in the time of the last Millennial Fair a thousand years earlier, nothing could prepare her for the futuristic spectacle. Not even the incredible adventures she'd experienced with her new friends, one of whom she was currently snuggling against.  
  
"Oh, Crono, it's amazing! Can you imagine none of this would have come to be if we hadn't been there to stop Lavos?"  
  
Her red-spiked-haired companion nodded solemnly. They'd both traveled even further than this into the future to escape a dark force after them, only to learn that an even deadlier force had laid the world to waste, leaving only death and despair among the few survivors in its wake. That force had been Lavos, an alien creature that had arrived on Earth millions of years earlier, burrowing into the ground and growing in strength over the millennia. When it finally emerged in 1999 AD, it rained destruction down on the peaceful society that had evolved, destroying it completely.  
  
Fortunately, Crono, Marle and the others they teamed up with, arrived to change the future by destroying Lavos. This was the result.  
  
Crono smiled. "In a way, I feel like this celebration is partly for us. After all, this would even be happening if it weren't for us."  
  
Marle gave a small facial shrug. "It would be nice if more people knew, but at least with Lavos gone, we can finally rest."  
  
  
  
  
Medina Village: 1000 AD  
  
Ozzie VIII scrubbed away at the kitchen counter. "This stain just won't seem to get out!" he grumbled.  
  
Kumo, the young imp who was head of the village and Ozzie VIII's employer, simply shook his head. "Well if you hadn't missed that spot the last time then it wouldn't have dried on."  
  
Ozzie VIII swallowed about a half dozen expressions he'd like to direct at Kumo. The imp was being condescending again and Ozzie VIII HATED that, especially since he did it without meaning to. "Sorry, sir," he said, timidly. "I'll do better next time."  
  
As Kumo went back outside, Ozzie VIII contemplated, as he often did, how someone with his distinguished lineage could have ended up in such a remedial position. He was a direct descendant of Ozzie the Great himself! The great warlord had led the Mystics to so many victories over the humans. His name struck fear into the hearts of his enemies wherever they might be. He could have defeated those Guardia fools and ruled the entire world had it not been for some twists of fate.  
  
First, Ozzie's closest and oldest ally Magus betrayed him. Ozzie VIII could never imagine why he had chosen to do that. Obviously, however, he must have revealed all of Ozzie's secrets and vulnerabilities to his enemies, for that is the only thing that could explain Ozzie's defeat in a battle with his enemies soon after.  
  
When the surviving Mystics elected a new leader, an imp named Muko who happened to be an ancestor of Kumo's, he must obviously have realized he did not have the stomach for battle that Ozzie did. Instead, he chose to make peace with Guardia and encouraged the Mystics to let go of old grudges. Ozzie would never have been that weak.  
  
Worst of all, though, those ungrateful fools had the audacity to turn their resentment towards Ozzie himself! Despite all he had done for the Mystics, they decided that it was Ozzie's aggression and the decision to launch a supposedly pointless war against Guardia that had caused the Mystics to fall on hard times.  
  
With Ozzie's family having fallen out of favor, his descendants had to scrounge around for any work they could find. That's how Ozzie VIII ended up the housekeeper for the village head when in fact HE should be the village head, if not more.  
  
"It's not fair," Ozzie VIII muttered. "It's just not fair."  
  
"No, it's not," a raspy voice from the doorway whispered.  
  
"Uhh.. Sorry, sir!" a startled Ozzie VIII responded, "I didn't mean to get distracted from my... Wait a minute. You're not Kumo!"  
  
Ozzie VIII had no idea who this visitor was but it was indeed definitely not Kumo. The visitor was much taller and draped in a hooded cloak that hid their features. Ozzie VIII guessed they were human but couldn't tell for sure. Heck, he couldn't even tell for sure if they were male or female.  
  
Ozzie VIII tried his best to regain his composure. "If you're here to see Kumo, he's outside taking a walk."  
  
The visitor shook his (or her) head. "Actually I'm here to see you, Ozzie VIII"  
  
The Mystic was taken aback. "Me?"  
  
"I know who you are, I know about the great deeds of your ancestor, and most importantly, I know that had it not been for the actions of others, your life would have been very different."  
  
Ozzie VIII rolled his eye. "There's an understatement."  
  
The hooded visitor stepped closer to Ozzie VIII, continuing to whisper in their raspy voice. "How would you like to earn the power you deserve, and make those responsible for your situation suffer while you're at it?"  
  
A wicked smile, one very much like his ancestor's, crept over Ozzie VIII's face. "Tell me more."  
  
"I will. I think we can be very useful to each other in making our enemies pay."  
  
Ozzie VIII leaned closer, trying to get a glimpse of the mysterious stranger's face. "Who are you, anyway? What's your name?"  
  
The visitor lowered their head in thought, as though not quite sure themself. "My name? I had a name once, a long time ago. I don't think it suits me anymore. Call me... Tempus." 


	2. Chapter 1: The Bell and the Rock

Chapter 1  
Crono's House: 1000 AD  
  
Crono began to stir as the sound of the distant chiming of Leene's Bell passed through his room. Strange, he thought as he began to regain consciousness, I don't remember the bell having such a low pitch.  
  
He was too tired to care, though. Though Lucca's idea to use the Epoch to see the next Millennial Fair was a great idea, Crono had gotten more than a little worn out. He'd spent most of the trip with Marle while Lucca and Robo studied the local inventions on display. Ayla had gone off by herself but seemed perfectly happy dancing the night away at the Jurassic rhythm festival. The only two members of their group who hadn't come were Frog, who politely declined, saying he was in the middle of some rigorous training and couldn't afford the distraction, and Magus, who hadn't even been asked because frankly they knew what his answer would be.  
  
As much fun as the fair was, Crono could barely keep his eyes open as they dropped Ayla off in the past. After returning Marle to the castle, Lucca invited Robo to stay the night at her place, so there was no more need to travel, which was good for Crono. Though they'd dropped him off early enough in the evening to get a good night's sleep, he still felt a little tired now and decided to rest for a few more minutes before getting up.  
  
"Crono..."  
  
Or maybe not.  
  
"Crono!"  
  
Crono tried to ignore the feeling of déja-vu coming over him and rolled over.  
  
"Good morning, Crono!" Crono's mother walked in to wake him as she did every day. "Come on, sleepy head! Get up!"  
  
He shut his eyes tight as she opened the curtain and sunlight flooded the room and listened to the chiming of the bell. "Ah, the Mystic Bell makes such beautiful music!"  
  
The MYSTIC Bell??? Now that certainly got Crono up. "What did you just say, Mom?"  
  
"I was just mentioning what a lovely sound the Mystic Bell makes. It was so generous of Lord Ozzie VIII to let us have it."  
  
"Lord WHO???" Crono's jaw dropped wide open, though she didn't seem to notice.  
  
Crono's mother shook her head. "It's a shame though, that they only ring it when he's coming to collect his dues." She turned to Crono. "Now get dressed quickly! You know how the Warlord likes his subjects neat and proper when he comes by. Remember when he visited Lucca's house to collect and her mother had a bit of mud on her dress? He had his thugs break the poor woman's legs! I don't want that happening to you."  
  
As his mother walked out of the room and Crono started to dress, he felt like his head was spinning. Ozzie VII had originally been the head of Medina Village. When Crono and his friends had defeated his ancestor Ozzie in 600 AD, history had been changed so that Ozzie VIII was just a humble servant. Clearly someone had gone back in time and changed history yet again, making it even worse than before. But how? His friends were in control of both the pendant and the Epoch, which were, as far as he knew, the only two remaining methods of traveling through time.  
  
Crono needed answers and he knew the best place to start would be to see Lucca the first chance he got.  
  
  
  
  
Denadoro Mountains: 600 AD  
  
The Free Lancer could barely breathe as Magus slammed him against the face of the cliff. "Are you telling me I came here all the way for nothing?" Though his voice was barely louder than a whisper, his tone and eyes showed he was dangerously close to losing his cool.  
  
"It's... it's not my fault. I never said I knew where she was!" The hooded, bird-like creature stammered. "Our mutual contact must have misinterpreted my message!"   
  
"Well you'd better have something to give me for my trouble. I fried a lot of Ogans and Goblins to get here and I have no qualms about doing the same to you."  
  
The Free Lancer nodded quickly. "I do! I do!" He then pulled a small object out of his pocket. It was a small rock, whiter than pearl and harder as well. At first glance, he dismissed as simply a fancy stone the Free Lancer was attempting to bribe him with.   
  
As he looked closer, however, he felt a growing sense of recollection. Having lived in the kingdom of Zeal, Magus could easily spot power when he saw it and there was something in this stone he hadn't sensed since he was a child...  
  
It couldn't be, though. It just couldn't be. This stone was smaller. It's shape was different.  
  
However, taking the stone from the Free Lancer, he could feel its texture. It was just as he remembered it; and the power...  
  
Magus had no idea what this stone was but the power emanating from it was more than he'd ever seen before. More than he'd seen in the sun stone, the Mammon Machine, his mother, or even Lavos itself.  
  
He glared at the Free Lancer with even more intensity than before. "Where did you get this?"  
  
The Free Lancer started trembling, looking like he regretted giving Magus the stone. "F...further up the mountain. I was looking for power tabs a few weeks ago when I found it. Just as I was picking it up, I saw two small boys walk by. One of them said 'Uh-oh. You should throw that away. Schala warned us it was trouble.' They ran off before I could ask them what they were talking about."  
  
That would make sense, thought Magus, given what Melchoir had told her about that stone. But what was that stone and why had Melchoir been so afraid of it and so insistent that Schala hide it?  
  
The Free Lancer started to back away from Magus. "I don't know what that thing is but if it's dangerous, I don't want anything to do with it. You can keep it!" Magus didn't even try to stop him as he ran off.  
  
Moments later, Magus himself started down the mountain, fully aware of two things.  
  
The first was that his need to find Schala was more urgent now than ever.  
  
The second was that someone was following him.  
  
Retaining his composure, Magus simply stated, "Unless you enjoy suffering, I suggest you show yourself."  
  
A hooded figure emerged from the bushes, chuckling quietly to himself. Magus wasn't even sure it was a "him".  
  
"I should have known better than to try to sneak up on you, Magus" The figure whispered in a raspy voice.  
  
Magus raised an eyebrow. "I hope you weren't trying to impress me simply by showing you know my name. It takes a bit more than that."  
  
The figure stepped closer. "All right, then. What if I were to call you Janus?"  
  
Now that did impress Magus. Save for Frog and a handful of the Mystics who'd raised him, no one indigenous to this century should know his real name.  
  
Still, Magus retained his composure. "All right, so you know my real name. Just what do you think that will get you?"  
  
"It's not what you can do for me. It's what I can do for you."  
  
"And just what would that be?"  
  
The figure stepped even closer. "A chance to save yourself. I've known you for a long time, Janus, and I'm not particularly fond of having to kill you. Because of that, I'm giving you this one chance to survive. Give me that stone and forget you were ever here. I promise you'll be better off than if you refuse."  
  
Magus chuckled, looking down at the white rock in his hand. "Somehow I get the feeling I won't be any safer with you controling this."  
  
The figure sighed. "You had a fair warning." Suddenly a huge bolt of energy emerged from the hooded figure's arms, knocking Magus to the ground.  
  
Magus immediately leaped up. "That was very stupid." Not wanting to waste time with this lunatic, he immediately cast his most powerful spell: Dark Matter.  
  
The hooded figure quickly summoned a massive forcefield around him. Magus was stunned to see the cosmic spell simply bounce off its target. "Is that all you have? How did a weakling like you ever defeat Lavos? Clearly you're not worth what little time I have."  
  
The hooded figure reached out their hand. Then, pulled as if from some sort of vacuum, the stone flew from Magus' hand to the figure's. The figure continued to chuckle. "Thank you very much, now let me give you something in return."  
  
Another bolt of energy emerged from the figure, striking Magus dead center. However this bolt was even more powerful than the first. Rather than knocking Magus down, it sent him careening over the edge of the mountain... 


	3. Chapter 2: Lucca's Promise

Chapter 2  
Truce Village: 1000 AD  
  
Lucca prided herself on keeping her compose under pressure. She'd faced off against dinosaurs, robots, Mystics, and mutants and, aside from her odd first encounter with Frog, she rarely lost her cool. It's understandable, however, that she couldn't keep from letting out a small shriek when she opened her eyes.  
  
Most people would if they awoke to find a very unfriendly-looking Hench looking over them.  
  
The Hench raised the club he was holding menacingly. "Get up, you impudent human, before I let you experience the same beating your mother received!"  
  
"No! Please don't hurt her!" Lucca's mother Lara cried out from across the room. Lucca looked over at her mother. Had this freak hurt her? Aside from being visibly distraught, she didn't look like she was in pain.  
  
Then Lucca noticed how she was sitting. The way her legs and feet were twisted, it was clearly the result of displaced and badly healed broken bones.   
  
The Hench looked down at Lara's crippled legs with a cruel smile on his face, obviously admiring his handiwork. "Lord Ozzie VIII will be arriving soon to collect his dues from you and unless you want to lose the use of other body parts, I suggest you be awake and presentable by the time he gets here."  
  
The normally composed Lucca felt a burning rage growing in her. "Did you do that to her?"  
  
The Hench turned his cruel smile towards Lucca and raised his club again. "Yes I did. Want to see what it feel's like?"  
  
Suddenly Lucca's father Taban rushed into the room and placed himself between Lucca and the Hench. "No! Don't hurt her!" he pleaded.  
  
"Shut up, fool!" The Hench smacked his club against the side of Taban's head, knocking him against the wall. "I'll not be told by you who I can and can't hurt."  
  
That was enough to rob Lucca of what little self-control she had left. Closing her eyes she cast a Fire tech at the lumbering Mystic, engulfing him in flames. The burning Hench screamed and flailed around wildly, trying in vain to put himself out. After a few moments, however, he slumped to the floor and didn't get up. Taban stumbled to his feet and rushed to another room. He returned with a small fire extinguisher and put out the remaining flames consuming the now-lifeless Hench.  
  
Taban turned to his daughter with a look of both pride and concern on his face. "You shouldn't have done that Lucca. There'll be consequences for this. I heard the Mayor of Choras and his family tried to resist the Mystics and they slaughtered half the village!"  
  
Lucca looked at the floor. "I'm sorry, dad, but I just couldn't let him hurt you and mom." Suddenly, she remembered something. "Oh my gosh! Robo! Where is he? Is he all right?"  
  
Taban started rubbing the large bruise on the side of his face. "That mechanical friend of yours? Don't worry. They didn't see him. I'll go reactivate him."  
  
As Taban left to bring back Robo, Lucca's scientific mind went straight to work, trying to figure out how all this had happened. When she and her friends defeated Ozzie in 600 AD, history had been changed so that the Mystics were now friendly. So why had one of them attacked and intimidated her family? It was possible that not all the Mystics had become peaceful but that didn't explain what he'd said about Ozzie VIII, who she'd last seen scrubbing a counter in Medina Village, collecting dues. No, the only other possible explanation, that someone had altered time, fit the facts much better.   
  
Just then, Taban walked in with Robo. Robo looked around the room, which had been wrecked by the fight with the Hench. "Lucca, what has happened here? Your parents have both been damaged. Has there been some sort of threat?"  
  
Lucca moved closer to Robo and whispered so her parents couldn't hear. "Somebody's altered time. We have to find out who and stop them. First we'll have to make sure Crono and Marle are all right."  
  
Robo's logic processors confirmed that that was the correct course of action but we was still troubled. "What about your parents? Will they be all right here?"  
  
Lucca shook her head and turned to Taban and Lara. "No. We should all go now."  
  
Lara looked down her crippled legs. "I can't walk anywhere like this."  
  
Robo nodded his head. "Indeed. I do not understand. I thought you prevented that from happening. Her legs should be at sufficient capacity."  
  
A look of frustration appeared on Taban's face as he looked at the dead Hench's charred remains. "That was his handiwork. He said she didn't look properly presentable for Lord Ozzie VIII."  
  
"Why did you not seek medical attention?" asked Robo.  
  
Lara looked at the floor. "Truce has been without a doctor ever since the Omnicrone overseer had him put to death. The doctor was performing surgery on a man when the Omnicrone had came in and demanded the doctor bandage a scratch he'd gotten. The doctor tried to explain that the man would die without immediate treatment and that overseer's injuries were minor, but he wouldn't hear it. He ordered his guards to beat the poor man to death on spot. When that Hench broke my legs, Taban did all he could, but with no one to treat them, they never healed properly."  
  
Lucca wasn't sure if Robo could feel outraged but this was the closest she'd seen him. "This is unacceptable! We must put a stop to this! Lucca, where can we take them where they will be safe?"  
  
Lucca thought for a moment. "Crono's house is probably the best place to go. We need to go there anyway. We can come back for the Epoch later."  
  
Lara looked around at the room. "They'll burn our home to the ground when they find out what happened."  
  
Lucca put a hand on her mother's shoulder. "I know, but have to go now. We have no other choice."  
  
Robo carefully picked up Lara and the four exited the room.  
  
Lucca had no idea where to begin repairing the damaged timeline, but she swore she would. She had a personal stake in this. She owed it to her parents. 


	4. Chapter 3: Reunions and Revelations

Chapter 3  
Denadoro Mountains: 600 AD  
  
Not being swayed by sentiment, like those foolish children from the future, allowed Magus' mind to consider one single question: who was that hooded figure? Could they have come from Zeal? Few of the Enlightened Ones would have been powerful enough to do what this one had and fewer still had survived the destruction of their kingdom. Could they have been one of the Mystics? Surely Magus would have known if one of his former subjects had been that powerful. Unless of course it had been an extremely well kept secret.  
  
Magus conceded to himself that wasn't used feeling this helpless and this was simply an attempt to get SOMETHING done.  
  
Hanging from the side of a cliff, there wasn't much else he could do.  
  
He had the ability to levitate himself, but only a few inches off the ground. He didn't care to risk using that to save himself if he were to fall. He could use a Fire spell to burn away at the cliff face above him until he could climb his way up, but that could cause the entire face of the cliff to collapse  
  
Magus didn't doubt that he'd find a way up. That was simply a question of when. However dealing with both his current situation and the issue of that mysterious newcomer at once was simply intolerable. It would be extremely helpful if the was someone around to lend a hand.   
  
But, of course, there isn't, Magus thought, and he was right.  
  
There was someone there to lend a flipper, however.  
  
Magus first noticed it when its owner stretched it down in Magus' direction and called out, "Taketh mine flipper! Quickly!"  
  
Though Frog wouldn't have been Magus' rescuer of choice, he hardly had an alternative. Grabbing the amphibian's arm, Magus pulled himself over the edge of the cliff.  
  
He didn't thank Frog of course. He didn't think Frog would care to receive Magus' thanks anymore than Magus would care to give it. Besides, the situation was awkward enough without adding false gratitude to it.  
  
After a few moments, Magus finally said what was now on his mind. "So, exactly how long were you following me?"  
  
"Since thou first approached the mountains." Frog answered, unapologetic. "I believe thy quest to find thy sister is sincere, Magus, but I wondered what business thou might have had at the former resting place of the Masamune."  
  
"Did you happen to see the individual who sent me over that cliff to begin with?"  
  
"Indeed. He carried with him a stone he took from thee. What is its meaning?"  
  
"It's something I saw long ago, a relic from the kingdom of Zeal, and we have to get it back at all costs. The Guru of Time would be a good place to start. He might be able to help. I presume Lucca provided you with a Gatekey."  
  
Frog simply stared at Magus. "I do not understand. What is the urgency of recovering this stone?"  
  
Magus' pale face took a distinctly darker tone. "Because what Lavos did to this world will appear downright pleasant compared to what someone with that stone could do."  
  
  
  
  
Crono's House: 1000 AD  
  
An experienced time-traveler, Crono was used to witnessing coincidences, but he couldn't believe he was seeing Lucca, her parents, and Robo rushing up to his front door just as he was going out to meet them!  
  
"Crono!" Lucca called out, "I'm sure you've noticed some changes around here too."  
  
Crono nodded. "My mother told me about some of it. Who in their right mind would change history so that Ozzie VIII was some sort of dictator?"  
  
Lucca frowned in thought. "A wimp like him could never have set all this up on his own. Someone must have helped him. We should go to the end of time. I'll bet Gaspar would be able to shed some light on the subject."  
  
Crono snapped his fingers. "Right, and it's a safe place where our parents can stay while we investigate! The gate should still be at the fair grounds. I'll just get my mother and we can go."  
  
Lucca smiled. "Don't forget those cats of yours! Robo can carry them in his storage compartments!"  
  
Lara finally spoke up. "Excuse me, Lucca, but you obviously know what's going on here. What's this about changing history, and who is Gaspar?"  
  
"It's a long story, mother and I'll be happy to tell you once we get going, but I really don't know as much as you think."  
  
Lara rolled her eyes. "I find that hard to believe. You always have."  
  
Ten minutes later after Crono had finally convinced his mother to go with them, the six were headed for the Truce fairgrounds that held the Millennial Fair just days before. It was also the site of the gate that Marle had been sucked into that sent Crono and his friends on their great adventure in the first place.  
  
As they approached the entrance to the grounds, Crono began feeling uneasy. Occasionally, he thought he heard whispering or rustling in the bushes.  
  
"Guys," Crono whispered to Lucca and Robo. "I think we're being watched."  
  
Robo twisted his head around, doing a thermal scan. "You are correct" said Robo, lowering the volume on his speech processor until it was barely audible. "I am detecting numerous heat signatures behind the rocks and bushes. Some of them are getting closer."  
  
Taban was getting even more nervous than usual. "What do we do?"  
  
Before anyone could answer, a horde of Imps, Henches, and Diablos rushed from their hiding spots and surrounded them. Taban and Crono's mother were quickly overran. One of the Henches picked up a huge rock and hurled it at Robo, knocking his head clean off. Without its head, Robo's body deactivated, dropping Lara right on her crippled legs. She cried out in pain but was quickly drowned out by the army of Mystics rushing at Crono and Lucca.  
  
The took out as many as they could with Fire and Lightning techs, but there was simply too many of them. There must have been a hundred, maybe two. The Mystics grabbed them by their arms and legs and forced them to their knees. Crono had a feeling this wouldn't be the worst of it and he was right.  
  
Approaching the group was none other than Ozzie VIII, carried on a massive chair by a dozen Imps who were obviously struggling under the weight of both the chair and its occupant. As Ozzie VIII chuckled at the two captors being forced to kneel before him, Crono could only hope Ozzie VIII was still ignorant about the events from other times. If he wasn't, there was a chance he could make things worse, especially for Crono and Lucca. He tried not to flinch as the hulking Mystic stared at them with his one eye.  
  
"So you must be Crono and Lucca"  
  
Uh-oh.  
  
Ozzie VIII smiled as the color appeared to drain from Crono and Lucca's faces. "I don't blame you for being surprised that I know. I mean, who would expect a lowly servant of the head of Medina Village to be intelligent enough to figure how to do all this." He gestured at the army of Mystics standing around him.  
  
Lucca gulped. "You know about--"  
  
"About how you ruined things for me, my ancestor, and all Mystics at once without giving it a second thought?" Ozzie VIII asked, his voice rising slightly. "Yes, I know all about you two, your robot, that frog swordsman, your princess, the cavewoman and even the great Magus himself. I know all that you've done, going to other points in time, sticking your nose in things that don't concern you. Tempus was very thorough in telling me about you."  
  
"Tempus? Who's that?" asked Lucca, mentally cataloguing that name, knowing it would almost certainly come up again in the future.  
  
Ozzie VIII gave her one of his family's trademark cruel smiles. "Behaves yourselves and I may tell you... later... if I feel like it. In the meantime, I'd like you to learn how changing history can make things very unpleasant for people." He turned to the Mystics staring up at him in awe. "It's a long trip back to the castle. Our friends will need a rest before they get there."  
  
Several of the Mystics started chuckling. Two Henches, looking just like the one Lucca was forced to kill earlier this morning, approached them holding large heavy clubs.  
  
As one of them brought his club down hard on the side of Lucca's face, she couldn't help but appreciate the irony. The first thing I saw getting up this morning was a nasty-looking Hench with a club, she thought, and look what the last thing I'll see before I go out is! 


	5. Chapter 4: From the End to the Beginning

Sorry about the delay on this one. Can't chalk it up to anything more than laziness. All I can say is I'm sorry and I'll try to keep up the pace in the future.  
  
  
Chapter 4  
  
The End of Time  
  
Spekkio never told anyone but he HATED living at the End of Time. Not surprisingly, it was the most boring point in time imaginable to him. Spekkio was the master of war but what good was that if there was no one around to fight? He couldn't really fight with himself and the old man had no interest fighting.   
  
The only thing that kept him sane was the occasional visitor who would accept a challenge from Spekkio, at which point he would promptly slaughter them (though was always good enough to bring them back to life afterwards). Even then, however, they always raced off to some other battle in some other time, never even bothering to invite him along.  
  
He often thought about just taking one of the nearby gates out of here and finding some point in time that offered him something interesting to se or do. Anywhere would be better than here. He could have seen the human-mystic wars in the Middle Ages, the fall of the reptiles in the Prehistoric, heck, even the BEGINNING of Time would be more interesting that this. He could see the Big Bang with his own eyes and maybe find out it what the old man said about that rock was true.  
  
Of course every time Spekkio brought up the subject, the old man would give him the same tired old lecture about not damaging the timeline. What a hypocrite! What did he think that weird-looking bunch did when they defeated Lavos? He didn't regret that happening, of course, but surely there was something he could do SOMEWHERE.  
  
His train of thought jolted to halt when he saw two figures emerge from one of the beams of light. It was the frog and that scary-looking guy who could do Shadow magic.  
  
"Hey, guys!" He said, rushing up to them in an uncharacteristic display of enthusiasm. "Need some practice? Remember, I'M the-"  
  
"Not now!" snapped the scary-looking one as he rushed by.  
  
The frog was a bit less hasty in his dismissal. "I regret we have not the time. Later, perhaps."  
  
Spekkio rolled his eyes as they headed towards the old man. "Master indeed" He grumbled.  
  
  
  
"Sir Gaspar!" Frog croaked as they approached the sleeping old man.  
  
The elderly man leaning against a lamppost was startled awake. "Oh! It's you two. I didn't expect to see you again."  
  
"We don't have time for pleasantries." Magus said. "We need to know what you know about the stone and we need to know now."  
  
Magus leaned in closer as Gaspar whispered something to him. Instantly, Magus broke off into a run towards the gates, leaving Frog to hop hurriedly behind.  
  
"Magus!" Frog croaked firmly. "Where dost thou rush to?"  
  
Ignoring him, Magus leaped in to one of the beams of light. Frog quickly leaped in afterward. As they emerged, Frog and Magus fell several feet from the gate to the ground. Frog looked around, immediately recognized their point of arrival as Mystic Mountain in 65 000 000 000 BC.  
  
"Magus!" Frog snapped "Explain thyself! Why hast thou brought us here?"  
  
Magus surveyed the surroundings. "The Guru told me that a rock very much like the one I obtained on the Denadoro Mountains could be found here. If we know that, the one who took it from me might know as well."  
  
"And that is why thou hast traveled here in such haste?"  
  
Magus closed his eyes and lowered his head in thought. "Partially. There was something else the Guru said."  
  
"What?"  
  
"He said we might find someone here who could help us."  
  
Frog nodded, "Lady Ayla, no doubt."  
  
Magus shook his head and lowered his voice to a mere whisper. "No. He said this person was a survivor of Zeal, someone who'd been thrown to another time as the three Gurus and I were, someone I knew well..." 


	6. Chapter 5: Jailbreak and Heartbreak

Chapter 5  
  
Mystic Castle (Formerly Guardia Castle): 1000 AD  
  
"Crono..."  
  
Why was everyone always trying to keep him from sleeping? He'd just woke from a terrible nightmare and didn't have the strength to get up at the moment.  
  
"Crono!"  
  
Crono tried to ignore the feeling of déja-vu coming over him and rolled over.  
  
"Crono!" Crono opened his eyes to see Marle shaking him. "Come on, sleepy head! Get up!"  
  
It had been a dream, right?  
  
"Marle?" Crono mumbled as he sat up and began to regain his bearings. This was definitely not his bedroom. He did recognize it, though.  
  
They were in the castle dungeon.  
  
"Marle, how did we get here?"  
  
Marle shook her head. "I don't know. I just woke up here like you did. A minute ago a Hench dragged you in here. You have a pretty nasty bruise on your head. He must have knocked you out."  
  
"What about my mother and the others?"  
  
Marle looked at him. "What about them?"  
  
"They were with me before I was captured, my mother, Robo, Lucca, and her parents. We were going to use the gate at the fairgrounds to go to the End of Time. We thought Gaspar would be able to let us know what was going on, but before we got there, we were attacked by Mystics."  
  
"I don't understand. When we defeated Ozzie in 600 AD, history was changed so the Mystics were friendly. Why would they attack you?"  
  
Crono sighed. "Obviously someone tampered with time. The Mystics that attacked us were led by Ozzie VIII!"  
  
Marle's reaction was the same as Crono's has been. "That annoying Mystic that ran Medina Village before we changed history?"  
  
Crono nodded solemnly. "He knew all about the places we've gone, the things we've changed. He said he'd learned about it from somebody named Tempus."  
  
"Tempus? Who's that?"  
  
"I'm not sure but since Ozzie VIII had learned all about us from them, I'm betting they're a time traveler like us, and not a friendly one."  
  
Marle looked around the cell. "Well whoever this Tempus person is, if they're messing around with history, we got to get out of here and stop them!"  
  
Crono looked at her, the solemn look still on his face. "You're right but I'm not sure how we can."  
  
She gave him a stern look. "Come on, Crono! You escaped from here once before."  
  
"That was different! Lucca was able to help with-" He trailed off as solemn look was replaced by one of shock. Given that Lucca was standing on the other side of the bars, it was understandable.  
  
Lucca smiled at them and pulled out a long pistol-like weapon. "Stand back!" She aimed it at one of the bars. A bright red laser beam shot out and melted the bar away where they came in contact. She aimed lower and lower until the bar was completely gone and then repeated the process with the rest of the bars.  
  
Crono and Marle just stood there in awe. "How did you escape?" Crono asked.  
  
Lucca smiled and pretended to blew smoke from the barrel of the laser. "Never lock an inventor up without frisking them first."  
  
Crono stepped over the black marks on the floor where the bars used to be. "Did you find Robo or our parents?"  
  
Lucca lowered her head. "On my way here I overhead a couple of the guards talking about a robot that had been brought that they were going to dismantle for study. I haven't heard anything about our parents. From what I've seen, they're not in the dungeon. They must have been taken somewhere else." She quickly raised her head with an intent look on her face. "Don't worry. If we can restore the timeline, they should be all right."  
  
Marle put one hand on Lucca's shoulder and the other on Crono's. "Then let's find Robo and get out of here!"  
  
Moments later the three were rushing through the prison halls, knocking out or blasting the occasional Hench or Naga-ette they ran into.  
  
They almost passed a darkened room when they noticed a small flashing light from inside. When they went to investigate, they found it was a processing light on top of Robo head. It was propped up on a table while his body was in a sitting position on the floor. The faint mewing Crono occasionally heard from inside the body told him his cats were still in there.  
  
Lucca picked up the head and carried it over to the body. "Looks like they were trying to access his memory files and see what they could learn."  
  
She reattached the head reconnected a few exposed wires. Immediately lights on his body started flashing and the familiar humming and whirring sounds his internal systems made resumed. "Unit R66-Y now online. Oh! Crono, Marle, Lucca! Where are we?"  
  
Marle looked around at the damp stone walls. "We're in the castle dungeon. We've got to get out of here. Can you move?"  
  
A small buzzing sound emerged from inside Robo as he performed a quick self-diagnostic. "I appear to operating at top efficiency."  
  
Marle jumped in the air as she often did when excited. "Then let's go!"  
  
As they headed toward the bridge, they noticed a faint rumbling sound. As they continued on, it appeared to get louder and louder.  
  
Finally rushing out to the bridge, they saw what the rumbling was coming from. A massive mechanical craft was blocking the bridge and slowly rolling towards them, its metallic head rising and falling as it did. Crono and Lucca recognized it immediately. It was the dragon tank.  
  
What more disturbing was the large turtle-like creature riding the tank. For the three young humans it too was familiar.  
  
Marle glared at the creature "Yakra XIII. If you're still alive then things have definitely changed for the worse." Marle obviously held particular resentment for him. Hoping to avenge his ancestor's defeat in the Middle Ages, Yakra XIII had impersonated the Chancellor, turned Marle and her father against each other, and tried to have Crono executed.  
  
Yakra XIII simply laughed in a throaty voice. "Greetings, Nadia, or should I say Princess Nadia? Ozzie VIII explained everything to me."  
  
"So you're working with him?" Crono sneered.  
  
"Working with him? He made me his personal chancellor! The way I see it, we both have a score to settle with you."  
  
"We beat you and that stupid tank of yours before!" Lucca shouted.  
  
"That's what I've been told. So I made a few special modifications." Instantly the tank's head opened its mouth and a bolt of energy shot out, knocking the four time travelers back.  
  
"Just who did you think you were, messing around with things that didn't concern you?" Yakra XIII taunted as the Dragon Tank rolled closer. "Your parents should have all taught you better manners. Well, they paid for that mistake with their lives."  
  
Marle's face immediately went pale. "What!?"  
  
Yakra XIII smiled at her look of horror. "I'm afraid so." He delighted at the reaction he got as he addressed Marle, then Crono, then Lucca. "Your father, your mother, both your father and mother. They were all put to death hours ago. The only reason you three are still alive is Lord Ozzie VIII wanted you to suffer."  
  
Tears ran down Marle's face as she tried to choke back sobs with little success. Lucca simply stood there in shock, while Crono unable to find his footing, collapsed against a wall.  
  
Only Robo was able to maintain himself, and responded to the news by launching a massive punch at the tank's head, knocking it clean off. He then tore into the tank, ripping out circuit, gears, wires, anything he could pull out. Sparks shot out everywhere as small fires popped up all over the tank.  
  
Yakra XIII looked around the tank in horror as the fires began to spread. "What... What have you done?! The tank, it's going to-" He was interrupted as a console exploded right in front of him, knocking him off the tank.  
  
Lucca began to regain her composure. "We've got to get out of here before it blows!"  
  
Robo shook his head. "We can't get past the tank!"  
  
Crono, slowly standing up, looked around until he saw a blue circle of energy a few feet below the bridge. "What is that? Is it a gate?"  
  
Lucca's eyes lit up. "It is! Come on!"  
  
Crono grabbed Marle by the arm and leaped over the edge and into the gate, followed quickly by Robo.  
  
Lucca was the last to jump, taking a quick glance at the flaming tank and Yakra XIII who was slowly getting up. She'd sworn she'd make things right for her parents and failed. Refusing to give in to despair, however, she reminded herself there was still a measure of hope and jumped.  
  
As the gate swallowed her up, Yakra VIII's screams were drowned out as the Dragon Tank exploded like a miniature sun, consuming everything around it.  
  
Next: Ayla at last and an ally we've never seen before... 


	7. Chapter 6: In Sickness and in Hell

Chapter 6  
Mystic Mountains: 65 000 000 BC  
  
After Magus had been staring off into space for several seconds, Frog started to get annoyed.  
  
"What art thou saying? Hast a survivor from Zeal found themselves here?"  
  
Magus didn't answer.  
  
Suddenly realizing something, Frog's large dark eyes widened. "Could Sir Gaspar have been referring to the poor lady Schala?"  
  
Magus immediately started walking. "We'd best start searching. We've a lot of ground to cover."  
  
Frog began to hop to keep up with him. "Ayla might be of help."  
  
Magus glared at Frog but kept walking. "We don't need more people slowing us down."  
  
"She knows this land better than either of us!" Frog said, a bit more forcefully, then returned to a softer tone. "I understand thy desire to find thy sister is strong, but the chances can only increase with help. Set thy pride aside for a moment, Magus!"  
  
Magus closed his eyes and sighed, causing Frog to smile. He knew he could never bring himself to bring vengeance against Magus as he had once wanted to, but the occasional moral victory was certainly satisfying.  
  
  
  
  
Unnamed forest: ???  
  
Why are gates always in the most ridiculous places, Lucca thought. She had encountered oddly placed gates before but had never really given it much thought until now.  
  
The fact that she'd fallen ten feet into a tree probably had something to do with it.  
  
Grabbing onto the branches, she lowered herself to the ground and found her friends had already done the same.   
  
Marle was looking around. "Where are we? WHEN are we?"  
  
Lucca surveyed the forest. It was much denser than it would be later in 600 AD or 1000 AD. There were no paths, no signs, nothing to suggest a human presence. "Obviously, we're in a time before Guardia was founded. There may not even be any humans here yet. I don't know when exactly humans first arrived here, I never studied history as much as science. As I recall though, the first settlements here existed around 150 AD and involved two feuding-"  
  
"Halt! Who goes there?" A voice shouted in the distance.  
  
The three looked to see where the voice was coming from. It had originated from one of two soldiers about a hundred feet away, riding towards them on large birds.  
  
Robo scanned the approaching soldiers. "They're using chocobos! Accoding to my database, people haven't used them in centuries."  
  
Chocobos were birds too heavy to fly that people had often used as riding animals long ago. They were fairly reliable, despite their annoying tendency to return to their pen once their rider dismounted. Although friendly when tamed, they were powerful enough that most monsters were too afraid to attack someone riding them.  
  
Crono started to look a bit troubled. "Ummm... Are those guys friendly? Should we be worried?"  
  
Lucca squinted her eyes in thought but before she could answer the soldier had ridden up to them.  
  
"You are on land claimed by Lord Arvel! What business have you here?" snapped the first soldier.  
  
"Lord Arvel, I know that name!" Lucca whispered to Crono, Robo, and Marle. "He was the head of one of the feuding settlements."  
  
"I said state your business here!" said the first solder, more forcefully.  
  
Lucca appeared to be struggling to think of a good lie when the second soldier noticed Lucca's Gatekey sticking out of her belt. "Wait a minute!" he said, pointing at the key. "Where did you get that?"  
  
The first soldier glared at his colleague. "We don't have time to worry about some trespasser's trinkets!"  
  
The second soldier glared back at the first. "You fool! Don't you remember what the captain told us? If we ever find someone with a talisman like that, they were to be brought to the Lord's home at once!"  
  
The first soldier eyed Lucca and her Gatekey suspiciously. "Are you sure that's what it's supposed to look like?"  
  
The second nodded "I'm certain. The description we received was very thorough."  
  
Obviously unhappy about the new situation, the first soldier grumbled. "All right. Come on, you four! The village isn't far. And don't think I won't be keeping an eye on you on our way!"  
  
With nothing else to do, Crono, Marle, Robo, and Lucca started walking, flanked by the two chocobo-riding soldiers.   
  
The one good thing about the otherwise dull walk was it gave Lucca time to think. They'd hoped to find some answers but now had even more questions. How on earth could someone from eight hundred and fifty years ago know anything about the Gatekey? Was this Lord Arvel a time traveler? Was he working with one as Ozzie VIII had been? Running in her head every scenario she could think of, good or bad, one thing was certain. Once she met this Lord Arvel and got some answers from him, she'd feel a lot better.  
  
At least she hoped she would.  
  
  
  
  
Ioka Village: 65 000 000 BC  
  
Frog didn't like traveling to the Prehistoric Era. Ever since the arrival of Lavos in this time period, it had grown quite cold here and seemed to grow more so each time he returned. He knew this cold would ultimately be fatal to the reptiles of this time and as a cold-blooded creature himself, he never felt at his peak here.  
  
Still, he was always prepared to put duty and honor above all else. If he needed to endure this unpleasant era to help others, he would do so without hesitation.  
  
Still, a scarf would have been nice.  
  
Standing next to him at the entrance to one of the huts, Magus rapped his hand on the hut's wooden frame, hoping to alert anyone inside.  
  
They were rewarded a second later when Ayla emerged from the hut. The attractive young cavewoman looked genuinely surprised to see them.  
  
"Frog! Magus! Me not expecting you but welcome!"  
  
"We have no time for pleasantries." Magus said, blunt as usual. "We believe there's another time traveler here. We need your help to find them."  
  
Ayla shrugged. "Me not know anything about other time traveler. Maybe sick person time traveler."  
  
"Sick person? To whom art thou referring?" asked Frog  
  
"Me not know sick person's name. Too hurt to talk. Me find him this morning at Laruba ruins after Epoch drop me off."  
  
"Him?" Magus muttered, obviously disappointed it wasn't who he thought it was.  
  
Ayla nodded "Me take you to him."  
  
Walking over to the chief's hut, they found Kino, the new chief, standing over an older man lying unconscious on the skin of what had apparently once been some sort of large cat.  
  
"Kino!" said Ayla. "Sick man any better?"  
  
The young chief shook his head sadly. "No better. If still had sweet water, he be fine now."  
  
"Vrath."  
  
It had barely been louder than a whisper but uttering it had made everyone else to turn to Magus.  
  
"How dost thou know him Magus?" asked Frog.  
  
"He was a friend of my sister's." Magus said slowly. "I never was very close to him, but Schala cared for him very much. He was much younger when I knew him though." Indeed, when they lived in Zeal, Vrath had been about Schala's age, older by no more than a year or two. This man, however, was older than that by twenty or thirty years. His thick black hair was now a ghastly white, and his once handsome face was now weathered and pale. Had he really been forced to live in this savage era for twenty years or more?  
  
Magus turned to Ayla. "What happened to him?"  
  
"Not sure." said Ayla. "Me think monster attack him, but not sure. Not see any animals nearby when me find him."  
  
Immediately, Magus knelt down beside Vrath and pulled an elixir out of his pocket. Opening the unconscious man's mouth, Magus poured it down his gullet.   
  
"Will that help, Magus?" asked Frog.  
  
Magus stood up and started walking out of the hut. "We'll know by tomorrow. I think we should rest until then." He turned around to face the other for a moment. "If it doesn't work and he dies, whatever he knew will die with him. If that happens, then Zeal help us all."  
  
Next: A reunion of sorts... 


	8. Chapter 7: The Tale of the Genesis Rock

Chapter 7  
Ora Settlement: 150 AD  
  
When Crono had first traveled back to the Middle Ages, he'd marveled at how the simple, primitive Truce Village could have eventually evolved into his home. If imagining that had been difficult, imagining that both had evolved from this colony (which they'd learned was called the Ora Settlement), was almost impossible. Nearly every house was built out of logs. A few of the larger ones were made of large stones, but even they didn't look very sturdy. There was nothing that even remotely resembled any kind of machine. Any kind of work was being done by people. Chickens, cats, and various other animals wandered around. It was remarkable, however, that they had built so much so soon after arriving here.  
  
The first guard escorting the four pointed to a stone house, slightly larger than the rest, at north of the village. "There's Lord Arvel's house."  
  
Trying to ignore the many villagers staring at them, Crono said, "Well, at least we'll be able to rest for a few minutes."  
  
"I hope these people have heard of chairs." Lucca whispered quietly to Crono and Marle, laughing.  
  
Entering the house, Crono, Marle, Lucca, and Robo were instructed to sit at what appeared to be a large dining table.  
  
Crono looked and the large table and shrugged. "Maybe they're planning to serve us dinner."  
  
Suddenly Robo's thermal sensor alerted him to something. "Someone is coming."  
  
A moment later a tall, thin older gentleman entered the room. His clothes, a regal-looking blue suit, were much fancier than anything the other villagers they'd seen were wearing. He put his weight on a cane in his right hand as he walked. He had a long but neatly-trimmed white beard and stern but non-threatening look in his eyes.  
  
Marle, always the bold one, was the first to stand and speak. "Lord Arvel, I presume."  
  
The bearded man nodded his head. "Why yes, my dear. And who may I have the pleasure of addressing?"  
  
"My name is Marle," she said, gesturing to her friends, who all stood up, she added, "and this is Crono, Lucca, and Robo."  
  
"It is a pleasure to meet you." Arvel said, shaking each of their hands. He stopped at Robo, though, as a fascinated look appeared on his face. "You, sir, what manner of creature are you?"  
  
"I am a robot." Robo said, matter-of-factly. "A machine."  
  
"A... machine?" Arvel asked, confused.  
  
"Well, it's difficult to explain."  
  
Rather than pressing the matter, Arvel simply nodded, his look of fascination remaining. "Well, clearly if you've all come from a time yet to come, no doubt you are aware of things I cannot begin to fathom."  
  
Lucca began to look uncomfortable "Actually, sir, that's what we'd like to ask about. How can you be aware of people traveling though time."  
  
Arvel gave her a smile. "I knew you must have been waiting to ask that, so I won't force you to wait any longer. Until recently, I thought it some fantastic fairy tale myself. Then I learned of Lavos, the Epoch, and even the four of you."  
  
Crono leaned closer. "From who?"  
  
Arvel's smile broadened. "From my wife, of course."  
  
"Your wife?"  
  
"I met her five years ago." Arvel recalled fondly, "She was so excited at the idea of colonizing a new land. She has always had an amazing spirit. Perhaps that's why she told me about the other times. I showed her a new world. Perhaps she wanted to return the favor."  
  
"Would it be possible to meet with your wife?" asked Marle.  
  
"Most certainly!" said Arvel. "In fact she will be quite eager to meet with-" he paused as he noticed a figure outside the window approaching the house. "Ah! There she is!"  
  
The woman who entered made Crono, Marle and Lucca all draw breath. She was slightly older than when they last seen her in Zeal, but it was unmistakably her.  
  
Smiling at each of them, she said "It's so good to see you all again."  
  
Crono's jaw dropped. "Schala?"  
  
  
  
  
Ioka Village: 65 000 000 BC  
  
Frog never would have thought anything could have made Magus any grumpier, but apparently lack of sleep could do it. Sleeping on a cot apparently made of reptile hides was hard enough without wondering if that Vrath fellow would live through the night. Though Frog had managed to eventually nod off, Magus appeared to have spent the night pacing around considering the consequences if Vrath lived or died. With that much on his mind, it wasn't a wonder that he couldn't have relaxed long enough to fall asleep.  
  
Frog wasn't too surprised, then, when his query on how Vrath was doing this morning was met with an angry snap back, asking how he could know this if he hadn't checked on Vrath yet himself.  
  
Magus seemed to be taking this quest very personally. Frog couldn't decide whether that was a good thing or not.  
  
When Magus had finally got up the nerve, he and Frog stepped into Kino's hut, unsure whether they would find Vrath dead or alive. Magus was relieved (though he didn't show it) to see it was the latter.  
  
Looking dazed and disoriented, the older man, with Ayla and Kino watching over him, didn't seem notice Magus for a few moments. Then he looked carefully at the pale-looking sorcerer and a flicker of recognizance appear in his eyes.  
  
"Janus? Is that you?" Vrath whispered "You've grown older."  
  
Magus nodded. "We both have, it seems. I go by the name Magus now. How long have you been here?"  
  
Vrath lowered his head. "There's really no way to be sure, but I'd say at least twenty years. I was working near the Mammon Machine in the Ocean Palace when there was this bright flash of light. When I awoke, I was here. I never thought I'd end up spending my adult life living in the jungle, dodging reptiles."  
  
"I'm afraid we have more urgent matters that lamenting our lost youth."  
  
Vrath shook his head. "I don't understand."  
  
"Someone is looking for the rock fragments." Magus said, simply.  
  
Vrath's bloodshot eyes suddenly widened "No! They can't! If some manages to-"  
  
Magus raised his hand. "I know what's at stake here. I have reason to believe one of the fragments is here. We have to find it first."  
  
"Now just a moment!" Frog croaked sharply, sounding somewhat annoyed. "I have continued to hear of the importance of this rock but I've yet to be told what precisely it is."  
  
Ayla and Kino chimed in. "Ayla want hear what rock is too!"  
  
Vrath looked at Magus. "Can we trust them?"  
  
Magus sighed. "I don't think we have a choice. Very well. When I was growing up in Zeal, Schala occasionally took me with her to visit the Earthbound Ones. I'm sure you can imagine I didn't enjoy that at all. On one of those trips, however, I noticed a rock half-buried in the snow. I don't know why it interested me. It was just a rock but there was just something about it. The energy I felt in it was unlike anything I'd ever seen before.  
  
"Being very close to Vrath, Schala told him about it, and we agreed to show it to the gurus to see if they could tell us what it was. They studied it for days before they agreed on what it could be. I'll never forget what they told us.  
  
"Gaspar told us an ancient story about a concentrated ball of energy that had existed for billions of years, perhaps since the beginning of the universe itself. Eventually some of the energy was turned to matter and it took the form of a stone. It somehow found its way to this planet. The gurus called it the Genesis Rock.  
  
"The energy in that stone was so powerful it seemed to leave an imprint of energy as it went through space and time. These imprints linked the stone to every point in time it had been to and would ever be to. This meant anyone who controlled the stone could theoretically affect not only the world around them, but all points in time simultaneously. If the power of the Genesis Rock was ever used for destruction, its owner could possibly destroy all space and time itself.  
  
"Melchoir concluded that such a power was too great for anyone to wield and that the Genesis Rock must be destroyed. Unfortunately it wasn't that simple. When Belthasar tired to destroy the stone, all he was able to do was able to do was shatter it into several pieces. The stone's power was greatly diminished but we realized it might be possible to reassemble them, so Melchoir instructed Schala to use her powers to scatter pieces as far as she could. One of them was thrown into the sea. It must have landed near the site where the Ocean Palace was being built and been thrown back in time like Vrath when Lavos arose. We have to find it and every remaining piece as quickly as possible. I don't know whether the other one looking for them can travel through time or not but given how powerful he was, I suspect he can."  
  
Frog didn't know what to say. After pondering Magus' story for a few moments, he composed himself. "How wilt thou know where to find these pieces?"  
  
Magus looked down at Vrath, then back at Frog. "I am descended from Zeal's most powerful magic users. I grew up around magic. I can sense it in other things and people. Something as powerful as a piece of that rock will be impossible to miss."  
  
Though obviously straining a bit, Vrath managed to stand himself up. "I'm feeling much better now. I'm ready to go whenever you are."  
  
"Me come too!" Ayla cheered.  
  
Frog turned to Magus, smiling at the wizard for the first time ever. "Then what do we waiteth for?"  
  
Vrath still looked somewhat concerned. "What about this person looking for the pieces? What will we do about him? Should we try to track him down?"  
  
Magus placed a hand on Vrath's shoulder in an uncharacteristic display of warmth. "Don't be in such a hurry to face him. Besides, I have a feeling he'll find us."  
  
  
  
On a mountain overlooking the village, a hooded figure smiled and watched as four odd-looking individuals marched out of the chief's hut and into the jungle.  
  
"Thank you, Janus," the figure whispered. "You were always so helpful. As you lead me to the next fragment, know that you're simply dooming the world you seek to save and that your faith in those you care for will be your undoing."  
  
Next: A fight on two fronts... 


	9. Chapter 8: Divided We Fall

Chapter 8  
Dactyl Nest: 65 000 000 BC  
  
It was a great deal windier than Frog remembered. It wasn't enough to stop him but with the cold air, it certainly wasn't comfortable either. Ayla and Vrath didn't seem to be enjoying the wind much either but if it was bothering Magus, nothing in his demeanor showed it.  
  
Though Magus was technically human, Frog genuinely wondered whether he actually felt anything at all. Yes, he'd helped to defeat Lavos, he'd been searching for his sister and had now fully immersed himself in finding this strange stone, but Frog couldn't help wonder if he was doing these things because they were right or for a less noble reason.  
  
Had he fought Lavos because of the evil it would do to the world, or was he simply seeking revenge for the destruction of his childhood home? Was he seeking out his sister out of concern for her well-being or simply to recover something that was his? And most importantly, was he seeking out this stone to ensure the universe's safety or because he wanted it for himself?  
  
Frog knew well that someone who was doing the right thing for all the wrong reasons warranted close scrutiny, because if they ever decided they could benefit more from doing the wrong thing, they would. If they managed to find all of these fragments, Frog certainly wasn't going to trust someone like Magus with them.  
  
And if Magus hath any aspirations of taking them, Frog thought, the only thing he shall receive is a well earned death.  
  
  
  
Ora Settlement: 150 AD  
  
Though she'd aged at least a good twenty years since they'd last seen her, the smile Schala gave her friends made her appear as beautiful as when they'd met her. The first few moments were spent exchanging hugs and greetings while Lord Arvel looked on proudly. For a few moments, the four time travelers were able to forget the danger they were in and enjoy a reunion with an old friend. Schala herself was amazed to see Crono alive and well, prompting Marle to explain about their adventure on Death Peak.  
  
Though the four had questions of their own on their mind, it was Lucca, the most curious who first voiced them  
  
"So when Lavos destroyed Zeal, you were thrown forward to this century, am I right?"  
  
Schala nodded her head. "I arrived on one of the southern continents. It was a few years before I managed to adapt. A few years after that I met Arvel." Schala looked glowingly at her husband. "These days I hardly give any thought to Zeal or my time there, but I always hoped to see you again."  
  
"I guess Magus will be happiest to see you." said Crono.  
  
"Who?" asked Schala.  
  
Marle and Lucca looked at each other. "That's right. She doesn't know. You knew him as-"  
  
"Lord Arvel! Lord Arvel!" One of the guard rushed into house, gasping for air.  
  
Arvel, switching pride to concern, asked, "what's wrong? What is it?"  
  
"Baron...Tos, sir." the guard gasped. "He's here."  
  
The warmth immediately drained from Arvel's face. "What could he want?"  
  
"He said... if you have any hope of peace you must see him at once." The exhausted guard answered.  
  
Arvel shook his head. "I guess I'd better see him then." He then turned to the four time travelers. "You'd better hide. I'd rather not have to try and explain the four of you to him."  
  
As Arvel and the guard stepped outside, Schala ushered the four into Arvel's bedroom.  
  
"I do not understand, Schala." said Robo. "Who is this Baron Tos individual?"  
  
Schala sighed. "He's the leader of the neighboring Enko settlement. Both sets of colonists arrived at about the same time and there have been tension between us since then. I'm not sure how or why it started but it's getting serious. If Arvel can't reason with Tos, we may end up going to war."  
  
Lucca rolled her eyes. "Great. We can't get caught in a war now. We have to find a way out of here and fix the damage that Tempus person has done to our time."  
  
Schala slowly closed the door on them. "I promise I'll help you with that but for now, please lay low and keep quiet. Tos is paranoid enough as it is without us having to explain time travelers to him!"  
  
After closing the door, Schala calmly walked out of the house and into the woods. "And don't be in such a hurry to face Tempus, Lucca," she whispered quietly to herself. "You have no idea what you're getting into."  
  
  
  
Dactyl Nest: 65 000 000 BC  
  
"I can feel it." Magus whispered. "We're very close."  
  
"That's good, I suppose." said Vrath. "What are to do with this piece when we find it."  
  
"Throw in volcano!" said Ayla. "Bad man can't use rock if rock melted."  
  
Magus sighed impatiently "You can't get rid of the Genesis Rock that easily! It's too powerful! I'll take it Melchoir. He'll know what do."  
  
"YOU'LL take it Melchoir?" Frog glared at Magus.  
  
"I don't care if you come or not!" snapped Magus. "But anyone know how to get rid of this thing, he can."  
  
"Excuse me." said Vrath. "But don't we have to find it first?"  
  
Magus and Frog gave each other a menacing look and then resumed walking.  
  
A few meters further, Magus stopped. "It's here." he said, simply.  
  
"Where?" asked Frog.  
  
Magus looked around at the ground around him. "Right under us. Start digging!"  
  
Immediately, the four got on their hands and knees and started tearing away at clumps of dirt. Ayla, easily the best digger of the four was tossing huge chunks aside when she stopped. "Me find something!" she cried out.  
  
Magus, Frog and Vrath gathered around Ayla's hole and she held up a small white rock.  
  
"That's it." Magus said, hoarsely. "We should go now. The one who took the last piece might--"  
  
"Might what, Janus?" a raspy voice behind them asked. "Following you? I would think after our last encounter you would have learned your lesson."  
  
Magus managed a slight smile as he turned around. "My teachers always said I was a troublesome student."  
  
Frog stared at the hooded figure approaching them. "Who art thou? State thy name!"   
  
"My name is Tempus. Your friend here had an unpleasant run-in with me before, but apparently it didn't sink in." The figure raised both hands as blue bolts of energy shot from one to the other. "I guess I'll have to teach you again."  
  
"That was one on one. You might not fare so well against four." He turned to see Frog, Ayla and Vrath and ready to fight.  
  
Magus just barely made out a grin on the hooded figure's face. "We'll see." Instantly, one of the bolts from Tempus' hands shot out, knocking Ayla and Frog down. Immediately, Vrath ran at Tempus with the club he was holding. "I hate to do this to such a handsome face but…" Suddenly Vrath found himself levitating off the ground. Sudden an invisible force pitched him against a large rock.  
  
Desperate, Magus blasted Tempus with a double dose of Dark Matter. It simply reflected back at him, driving the wizard to his knees.  
  
"So much for four against one." Tempus sneered.  
  
"Who are you?" Magus choked. "What are you?"  
  
"You want to know? Why not?" Tempus chuckled as the raspy voice turned to a distinctly feminine one.  
  
As Tempus' hood was pulled away, the face they saw made Magus, Frog, Ayla, and Vrath all draw breath. She was slightly older than when they'd last seen her in Zeal, but it was unmistakably her.  
  
Smiling cruelly at each of them, she sneered "It's so good to see you all again."  
  
Magus' jaw dropped. "Schala?"  
  
Next: Think you have all the answers? Think again! 


	10. Chapter 9: The Many Faces of Schala

Chapter 9  
  
Ora Settlement: 150 AD  
  
Crono, Marle, and Lucca tried to keep as low a profile as possible as they peeked through a window to see what Arvel was saying.  
  
The man Arvel was addressing, who was riding a Chocobo and flanked by two guards also on Chocobos, was much taller and leaner that Arvel. He was also much younger. He looked about half Arvel's age.  
  
"You really think only your settlement should be allowed to hunt in the western forest?" they heard Arvel ask incredulously. "We need that area too!"  
  
The man who presumably was Tos shook his head. "I'm sorry. That's the best I can do. There are those in the colony who want far more concessions than that but if I don't return even that much, even I won't be able to stop my people from moving against you."  
  
Tos leaned in closer. "I don't want war, Arvel. No matter what you think, I really don't. I am trying to come to an agreement as best I can. Please understand that."  
  
Arvel nodded his head. "I do believe you, Tos. I'll consider your proposal"  
  
Tos smiled. "I'll return in two days to hear your decision." With that, he rode off.  
  
Marle shrugged. "He seemed a reasonable enough fellow. I hope he sees reason."  
  
Crono looked troubled. "If he doesn't, we'll have to find a way out of here. We can't afford to get caught in the middle of a conflict."  
  
"Crono's right" said Lucca. "We have to find a way out of here."  
  
"Perhaps we should vacate sooner rather than later." Robo chimed in.  
  
Crono nodded. "I suppose we should." He walked over to the door and twisted the knob, but it didn't move. "Hey! Why'd she lock the door?"  
  
  
  
Schala had been waiting for nearly an hour now and was growing impatient. Was he even coming? Moments later three men approached riding Chocobos.  
  
"Tos!" she called out to one of them. "What did he say?"  
  
"He said he'd consider it. It's difficult to say." Tos answered with disgust as he dismounted. "He's a good man. I can't believe I'm doing this to him. If I ever get a chance at that Tempus fellow…"  
  
Schala placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know, I know. But we have to do this. You know what he said he'd do to both settlements if we refused."  
  
Tos shook his head angrily. "Everyday I curse the day we dug up that rock! I'm sure that's what drew him here!"  
  
Schala closed her eyes. "Hopefully once we've done this, we'll be rid of him and be safe." Schala couldn't blame him for being angry but it wasn't helping anything.  
  
Of course this was nothing compared to the reaction he'd have if he knew what she did about herself and Tempus.  
  
  
  
The End of Time  
  
After the shock of seeing the lady Schala under Tempus' cloaks, Frog had braced himself for impending death. Though they had all fought valiantly, they proved to be no match for her. The flash of light that enveloped them must surely have been the final blow intended by her to dispatch them all for good.  
  
Yet here they were, all four of them; alive and well, with no sign of Tempus anywhere.  
  
But where were they?  
  
Standing up and looking around to get his bearings, Frog recognized their location instantly. It was the End of Time. But how had they gotten there? They were nowhere near a gate.  
  
"Gaspar!" Frog's train of thought was broken as he heard Ayla call out the name of the Guru of Time. Turning around, he saw her, Magus and Vrath rush towards the Guru, who was lying on his back as Spekkio stood over him sadly.  
  
Magus looked down at Gaspar then up at the hulking Spekkio. "What happened to him?"  
  
Spekkio closed his eyes. "He said he had to bring you back or you'd be killed. It took all his strength."  
  
Magus looked back down at Gaspar, who was breathing faintly. "Will he live?"  
  
"It's too soon to tell."  
  
Frog looked around at everyone. "'Tis clear brute force is insufficient against Tempus. We must find a new strategy to use against…" he paused and glanced at Magus "…her. We should regroup with sir Crono and the others."  
  
"We may not have time." Vrath warned.  
  
Frog nodded his head. "We hath no other choice." He looked sternly at Vrath and Magus. "I regret what we hath learnt but art thou prepared to do what must be done?"  
  
Both men nodded with no trace of emotion. Both forcing a dignified face on themselves as they had been forced to during their days in Zeal. They could not afford the luxury of sentiment. Schala had to die.  
  
  
  
Next: Someone dies. 


End file.
